


king of the mountain

by Yevynaea



Series: a family can be some asgardians, sixteen demigods, and their friends (Lokids AU) [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Family, Gen, One Shot, Stealth Crossover
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-08
Updated: 2018-10-08
Packaged: 2019-07-28 07:16:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16236842
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yevynaea/pseuds/Yevynaea
Summary: It was a game he used to play with them. She was already grown, by then, by the time he found her, by the time he helped her get out of everything. But she still played, pretending at a childhood she never got, with her siblings, and her cousins, sometimes. She's remembering now how often Loki played the usurper for them, letting them gang up against him to defend their little kingdom.Or: how the Nat and Loki interrogation scene is different in Lokids AU.





	king of the mountain

**Author's Note:**

> Short version: Natasha is Loki's kid in this au.  
> See series notes for...all the other context I can offer.

“There's not many people who can sneak up on me,” Loki says, turning, a so-familiar trickster smirk on his face. She doesn't know whether to take that as a sign that he still knows her. Natasha searches his face, though for  _ what _ , she doesn't know just yet. She sees his eyes, bright unnatural blue. Like the Tesseract. Like the scepter he carries now, the one she's never seen before. She wonders if it's really him in there at all.

“But you figured I'd come,” she says. Testing the waters.

“After.” he's still smiling. “After whatever tortures Fury can concoct, you would appear as a balm. A friendly face. And I would cooperate.”

_ A friendly face _ . She wants to ask if that means he recognizes her, if it's actually Loki grinning at her all malice and spite. _ We all thought you were dead,  _ she wants to say.  _ How could you hurt us,  _ she wants to say. Instead, she glances at the cameras in every corner of the room. No doubt Fury is listening in, now.

“I want to know what you've done to Agent Barton,” Nat says simply.

“I’d say I've expanded his mind,” Loki replies.

“And once you've won,” she says, coming closer, keeping eye contact, “once you're king of the  mountain,” she watches his eyes twitch, just once, “what happens to his mind?”

It was a game he used to play with them. She was already grown, by then, by the time he found her, by the time he helped her get out of everything. But she still played, pretending at a childhood she never got, with her siblings, and her cousins, sometimes. They would go out to the woods, find a hill, try to claim and defend it. Sometimes alone, but most often in teams, knowing the game would go on too long if they didn't work together. What was meant to be a zero-sum game became a family effort. She's remembering now how often Loki played the usurper for them, letting them gang up against him to defend their little kingdom.

Now, in his cell, Loki doesn't react, beyond that single twitch.

“Is this love, Agent Romanoff?” he asks. He says her name like it's a joke between them.

“Love is for children.” A sentiment she hasn't truly meant for years. “I owe him a debt.” A truth.

Loki backs away from the glass. Creating distance.

“Tell me,” he says.

_ You should already know,  _ she wants to say.  _ Why can't you see me,  _ she wants to say.

“Before I worked for SHIELD, I,” she starts, instead, “well, I made a name for myself. I have a very specific skill set; I didn't care who I used it for, or on.”

All of this, Loki already knows. Or he should. Natasha watches him glance at one of the cameras in his line of sight. Is that a sign he knows this is all for show? A sign he's playing along with where she's been leading the conversation?

“I got on SHIELD’s radar in a bad way,” she continues. “Agent Barton was sent to kill me. He made a different call.” Another thing Loki should know, though she didn't tell him-- or any of their family-- until long after the situation had resolved itself.

“And what will you do if I vow to spare him?” Loki asks.

“Not let you out,” Nat deadpans.

“No, but I like this,” he’s smiling again. “Your  _ world,  _ in the balance, and you bargain for one man.”

He sounds… questioning. As if he remembers there are other people Natasha should be worried for.

“Regimes fall every day,” she says, still playing the game they started, not mentioning her siblings. Not mentioning anything truly important. “I tend not to weep over that, I'm Russian. Or I was.”

“...And what are you now?” Loki asks. For the first time, he looks serious. Solemn, even. Natasha has an answer on the tip of her tongue, another half-lie, a continuation of the game, but-- something stops her.

“Someone who wants to know what happened,” she says. “Someone who doesn't think that this is all you.” Loki's eyes widen in surprise, then flick to the cameras, and for barely a moment she sees a flash of natural green. And then it's gone again.

“You don't know as much about me as you seem to think,” he says. “But I know about you. About what you've done. Dreykov’s daughter. São Paulo. The hospital fire. I know everything”

Things he’s heard from her before. Things she’d done before SHIELD, before Clint. Things she’d done before the youngest of her siblings were old enough to come to Asgard, things she’d done when she felt lost and abandoned and angry all over again, that he had kept track of his  _ other _ children, but had lost  _ her _ . Things she’d done to make a name for herself, because the Red Room and Asgard had both-- in different ways-- raised her to believe she needed one, and she only knew one way to get it.

“You think saving a man no more virtuous than yourself will  _ change  _ anything?” Loki sneers. For a second Nat wonders if he's talking about Clint, or himself. “This is the basest sentimentality. This is a child at prayer.  _ Pathetic. _ You lie and kill, in the service of liars and killers. You pretend to be separate, to have your own code, to make up for the horrors. But they are part of you. And they will never go away.”

Her nightmares, talked about with Clint, curled together in a SHIELD bunk in the middle of the night. Thrown back in her face now, with no sign of remorse.

When Loki hits the glass, Natasha exaggerates her fear, startles back because that's the reaction he wants.  _ Where are you in there,  _ she wants to ask.

“I won't touch Barton, not until I make him kill you. Slowly, in every way he knows you fear--” Loki says, and Natasha is too fed up with the games and too upset by the words to bother biting back the immediate response that springs to her tongue.

“Why? Too cowardly to do it yourself?” she asks. Then, low, hopefully  _ hopefully  _ too low for the mics in the room to hear, “or too  _ sentimental _ ?”

Loki laughs. The blue in his eyes is brighter than ever.

“I'll let Barton wake just long enough to see his good work,” he continues, as if she hadn't spoken, as if he doesn't  _ care _ . Natasha lets her eyes widen, lets horror fill her expression, before turning quickly away. Sliding back into the game, back into her expected role. “And when he screams, I'll split his skull. This is my bargain,  _ child. _ ”

“You're a monster,” Nat says.

“Oh, no.” Loki laughs. “You brought the monster.”

She forces the half-faked pain out of her expression before turning to face him again.

“So, Banner,” she says. “That's your play.”

“...What?” he seems confused.

“Loki means to unleash the Hulk,” Natasha says into her comm unit as she begins to leave, and she hears Fury give a short affirmation. “Keep Banner in the lab, I'm on my way. Send Thor as well.”

She stops at the door, looking at Loki once again. He looks a little shocked, to have been out-foxed by her.

“Thank you, for your cooperation,” she says. She starts to go, then stops again, looking back one last time. “Don't feel bad,” she says. “I learned from the best.”

And she leaves her father alone in his cell, the door sealing shut behind her.


End file.
